Arkwright Society Shortlisted For National Heritage Award

The Arkwright Society for the rescue of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Gateway and Cromford Creative was one of four projects to be shortlisted for the best rescue of a heritage site in the 2016 Historic England Angel Awards.

A huge amount of hard work and many hours of fundraising went into this project and the Arkwright Society now need local voters to cast their vote if they are to win.

What are the Angel Awards?

The Historic England Angel Awards celebrate the efforts of people taking action to champion their local heritage. The awards were founded by Andrew Lloyd Webber and are co-funded by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. Cromford Mills has been shortlisted in the ‘Best rescue of a heritage site’ category.

What was the aim of the project?

The aim of the project was to bring back into economic use a disused Grade I Listed Building considered “at risk” by English Heritage (Building 17 at Cromford Mills) at a key location within the only World Heritage Site.

The successful work resulted in the a Grade I listed historic building on the Historic England risk register being brought back into use and removed from the list– a nationally and internationally important historic building saved for future generations to understand and enjoy.

The project also resulted in environmental improvements within a World Heritage Site with 175 tonnes of contaminated waste going to landfill and 64 tonnes of contaminated waste going to incineration.

Local visitors may also have passed through the new Gateway, which was created on the ground-floor of Building 17 to attract and signpost people to visit the variety of attractions along the 15 miles of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Sarah McLeod, Chief Executive of the Arkwright Society, said: “We absolutely want to win this award and we think everybody who worked so hard on it deserves it! It would mean so much to us if you could take a minute of your time to vote for us to win this prestigious award.”

You can vote for the project by clicking on the link below.

Cast Your Vote Here

The deadline for voting is midnight October 12th.